


Introduction

by Puls3



Category: Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: Drabble, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-02
Updated: 2016-05-07
Packaged: 2018-05-30 18:12:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6435004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Puls3/pseuds/Puls3
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Part of the NaNo 100 prompts challange. *Sweats* Oh dear...</p>
<p>Note: Warnings will be put up at the beginning of a chapter for your optimum reading experience.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> *Puts down his piece of work*  
> Hope you like it...  
> *Jumps out of a window and runs away towards the sunset*

**Introduction**  
  
It was morning, the air crisp and cool causing the last leaves to fall and thus, winter was beginning to cover the sleeping city of Copenhagen.  
  
The sun was starting to rise by the horizon casting its welcoming rays of light through the windows of the buildings that has been standing idle for too many decades.  
  
The city was asleep.  
  
No signs of life could be seen on the suns path, the shadows were keeping something away from it, something sinister that neither man nor beast dared to face alone. But amongst the ruins of the old world, movement could be found. With speed and agility a creature graced the dead land with movements that did not resemble the demons that kept to the shadows, but more like a human. Its features where thin and brittle, but it was only a facade that hid immense power that made it feared in both this world and beyond.  
  
It was sprinting with fierce determination in its eyes, shining galactic blue as it scanned its surroundings.  
  
It arrived to a large empty field that was basked with golden light, and in the centre, there was a peculiar vehicle which seemed to be the very object that the creature was looking for.  
  
It scratched the vehicle’s steel door.  
  
Moments passed and the door was opened, the creature slinked in and the door was closed with a metallic clank.  
  
The city stood silent.  
  
Bird song could be heard now. Faint and distant but present nonetheless, filling the void of silence for the last time before heading south, away from the long and dark winter that was slowly consuming the north.  
  
The door opened again. This time, there was a large man with commendable sideburns leaving the safety of the metal container; dressed in an apron with his arms full of kitchen supplies. He went over to a makeshift campfire and lit it up. As he made breakfast ready, he was accompanied by a considerably younger man with a more than impressive braid and a smile that was eager to help in any way possible.  
  
The man gave a tired nod and pointed towards the interior of the mysterious vehicle t that was in front of them and just like that, the braided man was gone only to return just as quickly with an apron; ready to be of use.  
  
Time passed, the sun rising higher over the horizon warming the otherwise cold surroundings of the camp.  
  
The older man gave a quick shout and after a long pause, the tank was evacuated. The first one to leave was a young girl with short and silver grey hair, yawning while rubbing out the last bit of sleep from her eyes. Shortly after her, a young man about the same age left the metallic container, hair shining like the purest of gold as the rays of the sun reflected on its surface.  
  
The older man poured up three bowls of grey sludge and served it to the two youngsters who both shared a face of discuss as they reluctantly accepted their chef’s work of modern art. The girl sat down beside the braided man on a log that seemed so out of place in a field of gravel while the fair haired young man went back in with the two bowls of steaming porridge, one presumably was for the thin one.  
  
The weather was getting warmer and the three who stayed outside faced the sun and basked in its warmth.  
  
Alas, their moment of peace was interrupted by the metallic door being kicked open by a red haired lady with a satisfied grin. With her arm carrying a few maps and a pen between her jaws, she accepted the day’s breakfast and sat down beside the grey haired girl and said something that seemed to get the others present to nod tiredly as a response. The red haired one proceeded to look down the map while gracefully consuming the porridge as she contemplated on the map’s paths, many of which were crossed of with a red marker.  
  
She found something of interest and consulted with the younger grey haired one who proceeded to pick up a notebook and read it aloud. The red haired one’s eyes seemed to gleam as she listened quite satisfied with what she was hearing. She said something and looked around to see if there was any doubt or other opinions. There was none. Not that they had any ability to argue with her, but the gesture was appreciated all the same.  
  
The red haired one ( _who by now seemed to be the leader of the group_ ) clapped her hands together and started giving out orders, getting agreeing nods in response. She turned towards the tank and gave a quick shout. The golden haired boy left the tank in response, ( _some porridge had been spilled on his leg without him noticing_ ) and gave a reassuring nod as he listened to his leader’s orders, going back in when she was finished.  
The leader finished her porridge and went back in, passing it to the braided boy who was on his way in to wash the remaining dishes that was cradling in his arms.  
  
The chef and the young girl were now alone with nothing but the bird song and cracking sound of the fireplace filling the silence. They both made a long sigh, knowing full well that they had a long day ahead of them. Their eyes met and they both gave each other a nod, nothing needed to be said. They packed up and went inside, closing the heavy steel door behind them.  
  
The city stood silent.  
  
But something was still lurking in the shadows. It had been observing the intruders all along with its many eyes belonging to faces that knew no other expression than that of pain.  
  
Dark clouds were moving in from the horizon.  
  
“ **SoON…** ” It thought, sickly yellow tinted eyes turning more sinister. “ **SOoN wE CAn eaT…** ”.  
  
Supported by various rotting humanoid appendages, the ghoulish troll moved towards a better vantage point, calling for its kin to join the hunt as it was patiently waiting for the clouds to cover the sky.  
  
The city had awoken.


	2. Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things have not been great for the people of Dalsnes these past few months after the outbreak and Aksel is starting to loose hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woops! Accidentally released this one as a stand alone instead of a new chapter, hahaha...ha
> 
> Prompt: Love
> 
> Pairing: Aksel Eide/Sigrun Larsen 
> 
> Content: Loss of hope/exhaustion/hallucinations (not the funny kind)/some fluff
> 
> Additional note: Inner monologue will be written in italics

It’s raining. Felt like the heavens were spilling all of its content over the small mountain village of Dalsnes this cold February night. The snow had melted a few weeks ago, but frost could still linger during some nights, removing all friction that the ground once possessed. Thankfully this would not be one of those nights.

It had been four months since the first reports of the outbreak and the eventual collapse of the once proud Norwegian society. They managed to tap into some domestic and foreign news reports for the first two weeks that seemed to solely devote their time and effort on updates about the pandemic so called “rash-illness” that spread across international borders like a wildfire. They also provided with a multitude of nightmarish witness reports telling grotesque tales of humanoid creatures that were rotten to the core while still managing to wreak havoc in so-called safe-zones. No one was spared during those events, men, women, children, it didn’t matter and every report seemed to bring larger casualties from all sorts of places ranging from crammed subways to sparse villages.

Things started to go south quicker than one could imagine and within the first month they lost contact with a colony on the mainland.  
Gøran(the self-proclaimed radioman) was devastated, telling people he heard dull screams in the background as he was speaking to the panicking leader of the colony on the other line, only for things to suddenly turn deadly silent. "H-Hey! Are you guys ok over there, what’s going on?!" Gøran asked.  
"They broke through…", sentence ending with a faint sob. Gøran said that he heard something crashing down (most likely a door due to the sound of busted hinges) and a demonic scream from what sounded like a woman. The line broke and static replaced the horrific scene that took place.

Gunnar could confirm the radioman’s incoherent story as he was present at the time but could not bear to retell any of it. He quickly decided that they should store any fuel for the boats until they could make contact with the outside world, which he hoped would be as soon as possible. However, something prevented them from reaching the mainland.

“Dark noise” Ingrid called it. It was an unearthly sound unlike anyone had heard before and to everyone’s horror, voices pleading for help and blood chilling screams of pain that never seemed to cease could be heard. It clouded any attempts to gain a signal and time was on the essence, fuel did have an expiration date and it wasn’t much time left until they would lose their only source of fuel.

"Where did this world come to?" Aksel thought as he stood by himself by the wooden pier as the rain poured over him. Darkness cloaked his surroundings and the only source of light at his disposal was and old electric lantern that seemed to turn off every 5 minutes or so. He hasn’t been able to get any sleep since granny went out with a small team to hunt for food and other necessities.  
That was two days ago.

He knew that she was the best hunter in the village and could more than handle herself in a fight, she even learned Sigrun how to use a knife, but she was still just a granny and an old one at that. But what worried him most wasn’t that was so old, but for the fact that another scavenging team went missing last week and never returned.

"What if she…or if…" No, he couldn’t think like that, it will only add more harm his already fragile nerves.

Inhale, count to four, exhale. Head felt heavy on his shoulders and the eyes felt dry in their sockets, he was beyond exhausted, couldn’t think clearly. Nightmares have plagued him for weeks, images portraying death and misery caused him to wake up in in the bedroom at night with horror in his eyes and hair damp with sweat. Every time he awoke, he felt a compulsory need to check to see if his friends were still alive, just to make sure that the nightmares wasn’t reality. He never told anyone about it either, didn’t want to bother them.

Aksel turned his gaze towards the sea. Memories from better times started to emerge within him. Memories of playing pirates with friends as a child during the heat of summer alarmingly close to the edge of the pier, much to their parents’ dismay. Those times where past now, heavy rain replaced the comforting sunshine and the crystal clear water had turned pitch black.

He looked down into the dark abyss with the aid of the lantern, squinting his eyes as he tried to see past the muddled water. The dark noise started to emerge in his head, screams making his neck hair stand up as he stared into the darkness, heart beating faster. It made him uneasy not knowing what was within these depth-

Something moved!

The screams were getting louder now, his breathing faster.

Can’t stay here anymore, too far away from the others, something was watching him from bellow, staring!

He started to walk briskly back towards the café, but the already narrow pier was getting smaller, felt like the whole dock was going to disappear under his feet, making him fall into the endless nothingness, never to be seen again.

So he ran. He ran as if his life depended on it, not caring for the water that splashed on his legs as his feet hit the puddles, he needed to get to the safety of land. The bridge seemed to stretch even further away from the harbour, he felt something breathing behind him, lungs started to sting, sounds were replaced by screams.

He tripped on something and let out a small shout, tumbled onto the rough concrete of the mainland, smashing his lantern. But he was safe.

Aksel threw his head back, panicking eyes was looking towards the bridge that was vanishing in front of him moments ago. But it was still there, looking the same as it has always done for all these years.

He made a choked laugh as sat himself up, not caring for the fact that he would get soaked to the bone. He pulled his knees towards his chest and rested his forehead, the laughs turned into a faint sob. “This is it. I’m going mad…” His sense of logic and reason had forsaken him. All he could do was to let the feeling of hopelessness consume him, because what reason was there to keep on fighting if they were all going to die horribly one way or another? He didn’t have any reason to live. He didn’t have anyone to protect from the dangers of the unknown. There wasn’t even a way he could protect them or himself for that matter. He was useless, waste of precious space and oxygen. Might as well lay down and disappear into nothingness, he wouldn’t be missed either way.

"AKSEL!"

"Huh?"

"What the hell are you doing there?" Sigrun was holding a small flashlight as her voice spoke to him with a sense of relief but her face wasn’t mirroring the expression.

Aksel didn’t really know how to respond to that, but with all his brain power (or lack thereof) he managed to blur up a response with a dumfumbled face: "I tripped."

Sigrun looked perplexed as she went over to pick him up. "Then why are you just sitting there enjoying the view without telling us you klutz, we’ve been worried sick because of you." She looked beside him to find the smashed lantern. "And you broke the bloody lamp to didn’t you?"

A wave of guilt washed over him as she said that. "I-" Sigrun cut him off "Idiot."

"H-Hey!"

"What were you doing here anyway?" She asked with a hint of annoyance while brushing off the mud from his behind with the sleeve of her raincoat.

"I was… I needed some fresh air"

"In this storm? You could’ve open a window and spare yourself a cold."

The guilt was forming knots in his belly, now he really was becoming a waste of resources. He would catch an illness that would get everyone sick, sick of him. "Sorry, I didn’t mean to."

Sigrun’s annoyed expression suddenly turned softer. "Are you crying?"

Aksel’s heart froze. "Aaah… It’s just rain."

Disbelief was written all over her face as he said those words. "Really Aksel? Your eyes are practically glowing red and those dark circles aren’t doing a great job with covering it up."

This is it. She knew it now. He was a weakling who could do nothing more than to cry his eyes out in solitude. "No need to worry its…Its-" His voice cracked ever so slightly.

He tried to swallow the lump that was stuck in his throat to no avail; felt like there was a vacuum in his chest as he took a deep breath, breathing uneven as he exhaled. When no words was emitted, he bit the inside of his cheek and averted his view towards the rainy distance once more, anywhere to avoid eye contact with her, but it only made his watery eyes more visible to her line of sight.

"Hey…" Sigrun held his hand, squeezed it ever so slightly. They stood there for a moment before she continued. "You know what?" Aksel turned to meet her hazel eyes. "I got some chocolate stashed under my mattress. It’s not much and it might be a bit stale, but it’s still tasty. Maybe we could talk there without catching the flu." She ended her sentence with a brighter note while wiping off a few tears from his cheeks as she stood on her toes.

Aksel gave a small chuckle and responded with a small nod. The knots seemed to go away now or some of them at the very least. "But first, let’s go get you some dry pants. Gunnar should have a pair I think. They might be two sizes too wide, buuut…" She looked at him with a mischievous grin. "I think your big butt can keep them up." She gave a light tap on his rear and gestured towards the warmth of the café (Gunnar’s new home since his own got destroyed during a particularly harsh autumn storm). "Yeah, that would be… that would be nice." Strange, he’d been standing still for quite some time now and his heartbeat was going haywire, but in a good way if there ever was one.

Aksel turned a quick eye to the distance; shimmering stars could be seen peering past the rain clouds on the horizon, piercing the oppressive darkness of the night. He made a faint smile before heading inside, Sigrun holding his hand, fingers intertwining as they went.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know. This might be a bit shallow i the love category, but I really got hooked on the idea that Aksel was a bit of a nerve-wrack and if I was going to write about that, I should add Sigrun in to the mix in order to get the love factor going, which I did! (to some degree)
> 
> This is also the first time I tried to write about hallucinations, so sorry to anyone who thought it looked a bit clumsy. 
> 
> Aaaanyway... I won't be able to write anything for the next few weeks as I'm trying to survive the exams at the moment. But after that, I can spend a lot more time with the prompts and hopefully get some progress with it.
> 
> Until then, thank you for your patience and I hope that you enjoy what I have to offer.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope that this wasn't too confusing for anyone to read, still trying to get a hang of this with creative writing as well as the mechanics of AO3. I will most probably come back and polish things like bad grammar as time goes on.
> 
> Anyway, thank you so much for taking your time reading this short drabble of mine!  
> Any form of criticism is appreciated.


End file.
